Ducks snap losing streak with win over Washington State

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EUGENE, Ore. -- The University of Oregon women's basketball team held off a furious final-minute charge by Washington State to win, 65-60, on Sunday evening at Matthew Knight Arena. The win gave Oregon (4-22, 2-12) its first season-sweep over Washington State (10-15, 6-8) since 2008.

Sophomore Jordan Loera and freshman Jillian Alleyne each registered a double-double in the victory. For Loera, her second double-double of the year came courtesy of a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. Alleyne finished with 15 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.

Oregon held Washington State to under 30 percent from the field (23-for-78) and out-rebounded the visiting Cougars, 55-47. In addition, the Ducks held the Cougars to a dismal 14 percent (4-of-28) from behind the arc.

Loera sparked a 7-2 Oregon run five minutes into the game by burying a three to open the scoring and dishing out an assist to Alleyne. Loera also grabbed five rebounds within that stretch.

After Washington State responded with a 5-0 run to tie the game at seven, Oregon manufactured a 10-2 rally that featured 3-pointers by Loera and Ariel Thomas and a put back by Alleyne. The run put the Ducks up 17-9 and forced a Cougar timeout at the 8:21 mark.

At that point, Alleyne was already approaching her ninth double-double of the season with eight points and seven rebounds.

Out of the timeout, Alleyne grabbed her eighth rebound of the evening following a Washington State miss from the right wing. On the ensuing possession, an 18-foot jump shot by Loera gave the Ducks their largest lead of the game, 19-9.

Following the Loera jumper, the two teams played evenly over the next four minutes. At the under-four media timeout, Oregon held a 22-13 advantage.

Washington State drew within seven, 22-15, but Oregon scored back-to-back buckets courtesy of a stick-back by Jillian Alleyne, which secured her ninth double-double of the season, and layup by Danielle Love to grab a 26-15 edge and match its largest lead of the game.

Love canned two free throws the next trip down the court to send the Ducks into the break with a 28-15 lead.

Oregon held Washington State to just 17 percent (6-of-35) shooting, including a 0-for-9 mark from behind the arc, in the first.

Alleyne led all players with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the opening half. Oregon out-rebounded Washington State 34-21 in the first 20 minutes.

Out of the break, Oregon and Washington State split the first 18 points of the second half. With just under 14 minutes left, Amanda Delgado hit a three from the left wing to maintain the Ducks’ 13-point lead that they had after 20 minutes, 37-24. Moments later, Love buried a triple to give Oregon its largest lead of the game, 40-26, at the 13:02 mark.

Oregon held its double-digit edge for the next four minutes but Washington State put together a run capped by a Taylor Edmonson three from the left corner that cut the Ducks’ lead to six, 46-40, with 9:05 left.

The Ducks were able to stop the bleeding, however, thanks to an Alleyne layup and a Loera fast-break bucket after she received a nifty behind-the-back pass from Thomas. The 4-0 spurt put Oregon back up 10, 50-40, with 7:18 remaining in the game.

But the resilient Cougars refused to go away and with just 3:43 left, Lia Galdeira converted an old fashioned three-point play to pull her team within five, 54-49. Oregon held on to its five-point lead for the next two minutes. Then, with 1:49 left, Washington State called a timeout and designed a play for Sage Romberg to take a three from the right wing. Her shot missed and deflected out-of-bounds off an Oregon player. Thomas stole the inbounds pass and marched the Ducks down to the other end of the court. She dished a pass to Alleyne, who was then fouled in the act of shooting with 1:13 left. Despite missing both free throws, Alleyne blocked a Cougar layup on the next possession. The ball deflected to Loera, who was fouled with 1:06 remaining. She would split the pair of free throws to put Oregon up 57-51.

After Washington State misfired on another three, Loera secured her 11th rebound of the game, got fouled, and sank both free throws on the other end to give the Ducks an eight-point edge, 59-51.

Washington State refused to go down without a fight. After nailing a three that cut the Oregon lead to four, 62-58, the Cougars stole the inbounds pass and converted a layup to make it a two-point game with 11.4 seconds left.

But Loera calmly sank two free throws the next trip down the floor to put Oregon back up by four. She then grabbed a missed three-ball by Washington State to secure the Ducks’ fourth win of the season.

Oregon’s triumph on Sunday snapped its six-game losing streak and gave the Ducks their first win in February. They’ll head to the Bay Area for their next slate of games on Feb. 22 and 24 against California and Stanford. Tip-time on the 22nd at California is scheduled for 4 p.m.

POSTGAME NOTES
• Oregon swept the season series over Washington State for the first time since 2008.
• The double-doubles by Loera and Alleyne marked the second time two players recorded a double-double the same game for Oregon this season. Alleyne and Ariel Thomas accomplished the feat at Washington State on Jan. 25.
• Jillian Alleyne now has nine double-doubles this season.
• The Ducks held Washington State to just 60 points on Sunday. It tied the lowest total points output by an Oregon opponent this season. Arizona State managed just 60 points as well on Jan. 11.
• Oregon is now 3-1 in games where it has led at halftime.
• Alleyne has now scored at least 10 points in 14 games this year. She has grabbed over 10 rebounds in 15 contests.